As the latest Israel-Hamas war escalates, travel advisors are not standing idly by. Cali Stein and Chelsea Martin are among the many advisors who have been using all of their resources to help people evacuate the area and get out of danger.
Advisor Cali Stein of Four Hundred says she’s been “working nonstop since Sunday.” No one she’s helping is actually a client; instead, “every single person is a friend of a friend [or] family of a friend, and all strangers.” These strangers have connected with advisors through word of mouth, and advisors have been using their real-time access to flight information to assist.
"Some people I've helped have been people in Israel, who are panicked and can't get flights out,” Stein said in an email exchange with TravelAge West. “Most of their flights were canceled, so I made sure to stay on the phone with them while I searched for commercial flights, made sure the layovers were safe and booked on their behalf.”
Stein has also been coordinating private charters, thanks to donors who are funding these flights from Israel — she’s already filled two flights with travelers, and 180 more people were set to depart on another flight today. If all goes well, she’ll schedule another chartered flight each day this weekend. Everyone is working around the clock, essentially as emergency volunteers. They’re also acting as emotional support.
We understand what's needed to get on flights in terms of passport and visa information, and when people are panicking, we are often the voice of calm and reason. I've been so proud and amazed by the people in this industry who have banded together to help innocent citizens get to safety.
“We understand what's needed to get on flights in terms of passport and visa information, and when people are panicking, we are often the voice of calm and reason,” Stein said. “I've been so proud and amazed by the people in this industry who have banded together to help innocent citizens get to safety.”
To offer her services, Stein posted on Facebook and Instagram, sharing her email contact and making it known that she was helping book the chartered flights.
Advisor Chelsea Martin of Passport to Friday hasn’t been booking flights, but she has been using her far-ranging social reach on Instagram — where she has nearly 30,000 followers — to connect people and disseminate information.
“At one of my host agencies, Embark Beyond, advisors in our group chat were talking about getting people out and using our resources — we have so many at our disposal, but they’re not necessarily reaching a wider audience. And, since I have that, I figured I could help people who might not know where to turn in this time. I’ve been helping friends of clients, family of clients, even just random strangers on the internet.”
Our whole goal as advisors is to get people out there, to be more empathetic humans, to experience other cultures and to be more open-minded. So, when something happens that is so disheartening, we band together. We all feel so helpless at this time; if the small part we play in this is to use our resources, we just hope it helps someone.
Fellow influencers reposted Martin’s offer to assist, and she quickly took on advising anyone she could, connecting them to people organizing chartered flights and alerting them when she saw new flights available.
She has also been a source of information, dolling out tips such as getting to the airport in Tel Aviv very early — some folks are missing planes due to long lines and other logistics. Also, being present at the airport may allow you to get a ticket when a new flight becomes available, or when seats open at the last minute, she said. Travel advisors are offering assistance if and when flights get canceled, too.
"I’ve also had people reach out with other resources, and it’s really felt like a collective community effort,” Martin shared. “I’m a very, very small piece of this entire endeavor — some of my fellow advisors at Embark haven’t slept, and they’ve booked thousands of people on flights.”
Martin says people are exiting Israel to any secure place, including Greece and Portugal. Some flights are going to New York and Boston. Charter flights she has seen have headed to Cyprus.
And things are changing quickly — flights may stall, and the U.S. is also sending evacuation flights as of today. Nonetheless, it’s likely advisors will keep working on assisting as many people as they can — “silent heroes,” as Martin calls them.
“Our whole goal as advisors is to get people out there, to be more empathetic humans, to experience other cultures and to be more open-minded,” Martin said. “So, when something happens that is so disheartening, we band together. We all feel so helpless at this time; if the small part we play in this is to use our resources, we just hope it helps someone.”
